Brazil’s Lava Jato Operation Working Group Coordinator Resigns

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Office of the Federal Prosecutor General (PGR) confirmed on Tuesday, July 16th, that prosecutor José Alfredo de Paula has left the position of coordinator of the working group of the Lava Jato operation in the PGR.

The resignation was formally announced last Friday, July 12th, and it was based on personal reasons, according to the PGR’s notice. The prosecutor is on vacation, and he will not return the office. The information was published by “O Globo” newspaper.

Pace of investigations

Sources have confirmed to TV Globo that he was dissatisfied with the pace of investigations under Raquel Dodge’s management in the Prosecutor General’s office.

The case involving a leniency agreement with contractor Léo Pinheiro, former president of OAS, would be an example. According to investigators, José Alfredo complained about the Federal Prosecutor General’s delay in sending the cooperation agreement for approval by Justice Edson Fachin, of the Federal Supreme Court (STF). Investigators say that the depositions have been finalized since February and that so far Dodge has not sent them to the STF for validation.

Sources additionally say that José Alfredo de Paula considered that Dodge remained silent in relation to the messages attributed to Lava Jato prosecutors and failed to stand up for her team and for the operation.

In early June of this year, The Intercept website released excerpts of messages attributed to prosecutors of the Lava Jato task force in Curitiba and then federal judge Sérgio Moro, the current minister of Justice and Public Security. The messages were extracted from the Telegram App.

The website reported that prosecutors, including Deltan Dallagnol, had exchanged messages with Moro regarding some of the issues under investigation.

On Tuesday, July 16th, Raquel Dodge met with Lava Jato prosecutors at 2:30 PM. She met with task force prosecutors in Curitiba, coordinated by prosecutor Deltan Dallagnol. On the agenda was the intrusion into prosecutors’ cell phones and how the PGR is to institutionally address this issue.